X-Wing Beginner's Guide

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[This Guide is also found under MajorJuggler's pinned post: "Index of Useful Links"]

Hello all,

A friend of mine recently got into X-wing, and she was very excited to play, but she was overwhelmed by the plethora of choices that X-wing has. With all of the various ships and upgrades available, sorting through all of it can be a daunting task. I made this guide to help her decide on which squads to play and to help show the various strengths and weaknesses of the various ships in the game, as well as some foundations of X-Wing.

It dawned on me recently that others in the community who recently bought into X-Wing may be in a similar situation, so I thought I would share this guide for the internet to see. I do not claim to be an expert on anything X-Wing related, but I did read a lot of information presented by those experts (like MajorJuggler and Theorist to name a few). That being said, there were many places in the guide where I was sorting through information on my own, without having any “expert” information to base my guide on. Therefore, please do not be too harsh if you find that a specific ship or upgrade is not represented completely correctly. Instead, TELL ME, so I can change it.

My goal is to help the community, and hopefully some people find this useful. If not, it’s not a big deal, as it was created to help my friend, who still uses it a lot. I will continue to update it with new releases. Let me know what you think and how I can make this guide better!

Note: This current guide contains ships and upgrades from everything from wave 1 through wave 13. I’ll add new expansions post-release, once I’ve done my research on the release.

12/22/15 V2.0 Edit: I have updated the guide; I also added the new Force Awakened ships.

01/04/16 V2.2 Edit: I have edited some typos and I added the new ships and upgrade from the Imperial Assault Carrier Expansion.

03/24/16 V3.0 Edit: I have added the wave 8 ships and upgrades.

05/16/16 V3.3 Edit: I added a few clarifications to some of the strategy section. I also added a suggested errata section; this is small update before Imperial Veterans comes out.

09/22/16 V4.0 Edit: So sorry for the long delay! My summer months consist of 80 hour work weeks, so working on the guide becomes impossible. This update was also HUGE! I added Imperial Veterans, Wave 9, and ALL upgrade cards in the game. I found that more and more, the fact that upgrade cards were not discussed directly was hampering the guide, so I added them. I also added the suggested casual play errata to each individual ship and upgrade that is affected by it; feel free to ignore the errata if you only play competitively. ... my next step is to revamp the "Suggested Squads" sections to incorporate all of the new ships, but I'll wait until Heroes of the Resistance drops for that update.

09/28/16 V4.1 Edit: Fixed a handful of typos and added the maneuvers for the wave 9 ships.

10/22/16 V4.2 Edit: Added some new errata and the errata handed out by FFG. I updated about a third of all of the suggested squads as there were a lot of dated squads. Also, I added a few things in the strategy section at the beginning of the guide.

10/29/16 V4.3 Edit: Added the Heroes of the Resistence pilots and upgrades as well as updated a few of the optional suggested casual errata. I still need to add the Heroes of the Resistence cards into the Suggested Squads sections, but the Suggested Squads are updated excluding HotR. Also, official errata is in red while suggested casual errata is not.

1/21/17 V4.5 Edit: I skipped uploading my 4.4 edit, because the new mini-wave of U-wing and TIE Striker came out before I could upload the changes. Sorry I am so late getting this uploaded! The TIE Striker, U-wing, and all upgrades from those expansions are included throughout the guide. I modified the Suggested Squads throughout the guide accommodating for the new ships as well as Heroes of the Resistance. I also included some new suggested errata for casual games (ignore for competitive play of course!). Remember, the official errata is in red!

1/21/17 V4.5 Edit: Whoops... I noticed a formatting error after I uploaded. Yikes! I have fixed it.

5/13/17 V4.6 Edit: I added the new wave X ships (Upsilon, Quadjumper, and Rebel TIE Fighter), as well as updating the errata list (both official and suggested). I updated some of the Suggested Squads too, as well as all of the upgrades.

5/14/17 V4.61 Edit: I fixed a few typos and I forgot to include the coordinate action in the overview.

5/24/17 V4.62 Edit: I updated a few things to the Suggested Upgrades section.

11/11/17 V5.0 Edit: I added the new wave XI ships and the Guns for Hire expansion. This is a pretty substantial update, as I have shifted the guide to be completed geared towards casual play and fully incorporating my suggested casual errata in every facet of the guide. I understand that this makes the guide much less useful for some, but as the guide was originally designed for my play group, our group takes priority.

11/14 V5.1 Edit: I fixed a couple typos.

12/24/17 V5.2 Edit: I added the two new waves of ships (wave XII and XIII). This is as normal of an update as can be, with the new ships, upgrades, and casual errata added.

12/26/17 V5.21 Edit: I corrected a few typos and some of the suggested upgrades. I changed a few of the suggested erratas, including some cost reductions on most T-70 X-wing pilots.

12/27/17 V5.22 Edit: I underestimated how overpowered Harpoon Missiles are haha. Added a second nerf that should allow them to still be played in some lists (with all other errata taken into account), but without overshadowing all other ordnance types.

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Looked at it up to the TIE Interceptor breakdown, will likely read some more later on. Most of the guide is very clear and easy to follow, and I like how you include a wide variety of upgrades beyond the "best" options. That will help new players develop a style that suits them, and keep them from feeling locked into specific upgrades every time they use a ship.

I do feel you overvalue PTL a bit, though. It's a very strong EPT but TIE Advanced with Predator and ATC is brutal. I would also argue that the only systems upgrades the Advanced should ever take are Accuracy Corrector or ATC. In particular I have to disagree with you on FCS being a good choice against targets with 3+ agility. ATC is much better against the dodgy targets.

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I do feel you overvalue PTL a bit, though. It's a very strong EPT but TIE Advanced with Predator and ATC is brutal. I would also argue that the only systems upgrades the Advanced should ever take are Accuracy Corrector or ATC. In particular I have to disagree with you on FCS being a good choice against targets with 3+ agility. ATC is much better against the dodgy targets.

If push the limit is considered 'over-rated' on advanced, then I think its fair to say FCS is 'under-rated' on the same. While ATC is probably better in potential damage output it is worse in action economy and costs an additional point. These two factors make FCS an appealing choice in certain types of builds. Of course, FCS is ONLY worth considering when the 2 hits from accuracy corrector just aren't going to cut it (again build specific---most of the time, AC is fine), or you really want that free target lock for some specific reason (build synergy and all). Also, just for the record, FCS is hands down better than AC at R1, but worse at R2 or 3. Most people are gonna choose AC, but FCS does has its place in I guess rare circumstances...

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I'm reading through your guide, OP, and I think I may make a few suggestions here.

1. in your section on Barrel Roll (actions) you may want to make mention of its use in navigation as well, dealing with obstacles, or evasiveness beyond arc dodging (for instance, if a ship can barrel roll out of range 1 (or possibly into range 3) from multiple attackers at once, it is advisable that you do so because a focus may not ever work, but shedding a few attack dice certainly will.

2. in the boost section (actions) the last sentence ends with "barrel roll" instead of "boost". I believe this is because you copy pasted from the previous section, and simply forgot to change it.

3. you used the correct form of the word 'ordnance'! You win at living, good sir.

4. Some more advice on obstacles: you should think about where you want the action to take place. If you plan on slow-playing your opponent, put them on your opponent's side. if you want to meet in the middle and use them as cover after the primary engagement, put them in the middle. if your opponent has a less maneuverable squad than you, put them on your side. This last one is one I use a lot, since you tend to meet somewhere in the middle. But, where an x-wing or a y-wing or many large ships have difficulty maneuvering through them easily (that is to say, without hitting them and while also maintaining some sort of firing solution on you) my ships can do so easily, so I'm free to come about and line up round 2, while my opponent now has to worry equally about me and about obstacles.

5. Aww, no love for Gundark? Oh ok, this is more a personal choice, but I've found that if you keep him at long range against low agility turret ships until you've dropped their shields, he's remarkable late-game against them (so long as he's not alone). Not really a change to make, exactly, just my own little opinion really.

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I'm reading through your guide, OP, and I think I may make a few suggestions here.

1. in your section on Barrel Roll (actions) you may want to make mention of its use in navigation as well, dealing with obstacles, or evasiveness beyond arc dodging (for instance, if a ship can barrel roll out of range 1 (or possibly into range 3) from multiple attackers at once, it is advisable that you do so because a focus may not ever work, but shedding a few attack dice certainly will.

2. in the boost section (actions) the last sentence ends with "barrel roll" instead of "boost". I believe this is because you copy pasted from the previous section, and simply forgot to change it.

3. you used the correct form of the word 'ordnance'! You win at living, good sir.

4. Some more advice on obstacles: you should think about where you want the action to take place. If you plan on slow-playing your opponent, put them on your opponent's side. if you want to meet in the middle and use them as cover after the primary engagement, put them in the middle. if your opponent has a less maneuverable squad than you, put them on your side. This last one is one I use a lot, since you tend to meet somewhere in the middle. But, where an x-wing or a y-wing or many large ships have difficulty maneuvering through them easily (that is to say, without hitting them and while also maintaining some sort of firing solution on you) my ships can do so easily, so I'm free to come about and line up round 2, while my opponent now has to worry equally about me and about obstacles.

5. Aww, no love for Gundark? Oh ok, this is more a personal choice, but I've found that if you keep him at long range against low agility turret ships until you've dropped their shields, he's remarkable late-game against them (so long as he's not alone). Not really a change to make, exactly, just my own little opinion really.

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As an experienced gamer, I still find this interesting and helpful. One "feature" I would suggest you add is a version #, so when you do make changes, etc., I know if what I have is the latest version. Thanks for your efforts.

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As an experienced gamer, I still find this interesting and helpful. One "feature" I would suggest you add is a version #, so when you do make changes, etc., I know if what I have is the latest version. Thanks for your efforts.

Good points. I'll do that for the next update. The guide seems to be received fairly well, so I'll try and get a V1.1 update in within the next day or two, based on some of the feedback I've received. I may add the Force Awakened Ships too.

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I think this is a great resource for newer players, plenty of useful hints and tips, I particularly like the fact that you're positive about most ships and pilots, its so easy with things like this to focus on the very top-tier options, but this deprives new players of the ability to learn from themselves.

I think the only thing I have any issue with is your dismissal of Hobbie. He is great when used with R3-A2 to hand out stress without taking it himself, and it looks like the Targeting Astromech will be amazing on him!

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I think this is a great resource for newer players, plenty of useful hints and tips, I particularly like the fact that you're positive about most ships and pilots, its so easy with things like this to focus on the very top-tier options, but this deprives new players of the ability to learn from themselves.

I think the only thing I have any issue with is your dismissal of Hobbie. He is great when used with R3-A2 to hand out stress without taking it himself, and it looks like the Targeting Astromech will be amazing on him!

Great point about Hobbie. I struggled to find a use for him, but you are spot on. I'll change that for the next update.